State News In Brief

Ex-staffer for Utah congressman pleads not guilty

SALT LAKE CITY - A former Utah staffer for U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz has pleaded not guilty to lying about being injured in the Iraq War to collect disability benefits.

Court records show that 49-year-old Gilbert Prado, who landed his job on the Chaffetz staff through the Wounded Warrior Project, entered his plea Monday.

Prosecutors last month filed a 15-count indictment against Prado for wire fraud and making false statements. The West Valley City man is accused of wrongfully telling Veterans Affairs officials that he had been hurt during an explosion in Iraq in 2006.

Prosecutors say Prado received monthly disability payments from August 2011 to March 2012 totaling $18,000.

Chaffetz says his office became concerned about the authenticity of Prado's story and referred the case to federal authorities.

Hotline fields 17 calls on Utah fertility clinic

SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah says it 17 calls have come in to a hotline about possible tampering of semen samples at a now-defunct fertility clinic once operated by faculty members.

Yet officials say they may never get to the bottom of a complaint that a convicted felon working at the clinic replaced a customer's sperm with his own, fathering a girl 21 years ago.

State and federal prosecutors tell The Associated Press they were unaware of the nearly year-old allegation and couldn't say if it warrants an investigation.

University officials say they're stumped because the mix-up happened long ago, the clinic shut down and the suspect is dead.

Utah National Guard concerned about helicopter plan

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah National Guard officials are worried that more than 200 people could lose their jobs if the U.S. Army consolidates its fleet of AH-64 Apache helicopters.

The Deseret News reports that Utah National Guard Gen. Jefferson Burton says the Army has proposed taking the helicopters away from National Guard units to save money.

They would instead be used by active Army units only. The plan is pending approval from Congress and the U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.

Burton says Utah currently has 16 helicopters. Utah National Guard members recently spent a year in Afghanistan doing reconnaissance work. During wildfires season, the helicopters were used to find hot spots.

Burton says the country is better served by having the helicopters spread across the country with National Guard units.

Man accused of prostitution ring dies in prison

PROVO - Charges against a 68-year-old Springville man accused of running a prostitution ring have been dropped after he died while serving time in prison on another case.

A death certificate for Kenneth Michael Bond was filed in court Monday. It says he died of cardiac arrest Jan. 4.

Bond faced more than three dozen charges for allegedly forcing teen girls into sexual relationships with adult men.

Prosecutors say Bond bought the girls gifts and paid the men to have sex with them, then watched or made videos of the acts.

Bond had pleaded not guilty to charges including object rape, exploitation of a prostitute, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and aggravated sexual assault.

He was expected in court for a competency hearing on Tuesday, but the case was dismissed Monday.

- The Associated Press

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State News In Brief

A former Utah staffer for U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz has pleaded not guilty to lying about being injured in the Iraq War to collect disability benefits.